SIMU

Question 1

Why were black-footed ferrets nearly extinct?

Answer 1

Habitat loss and extirpation of their prey (prairie dogs).

Question 2

What are current challenges for black-footed ferrets?

Answer 2

Scarce food, low population numbers, and limited genetic diversity (descended from only 7 individuals).

Question 2

What conservation strategy helped black-footed ferrets recover?

Answer 2

Breeding programs and reintroduction into the wild.

Question 3

What is genetic diversity?

Answer 3

The amount of variation in the genetic makeup of a population, either overall or at specific genes.

Question 4

What is a population bottleneck?

Answer 4

A sudden, substantial reduction in population size, often caused by disasters, disease, or human activity, reducing genetic diversity.

Question 5

Define “population” in evolutionary biology

Answer 5

A group of individuals of one species living in the same area at the same time

Question 6

What is a gene?

Answer 6

A DNA region encoding a protein or RNA, serving as a functional unit of heredity.

Question 7

What is an allele?

Answer 7

Different versions of a gene that can produce variations in traits.

Question 8

Define genotype.

Answer 8

The set of alleles an individual carries for a particular gene.

Question 9

What is a trait?

Answer 9

A specific characteristic of an individual, determined by genetics, environment, or both.

Question 10

Qualitative vs. quantitative traits?

Answer 10

Quantitative: discrete values

Qualitative: continuous distribution

Question 11

What does an allele frequency of 0.45 mean?

Answer 11

45% of the gene copies in the population carry that allele.

Question 12

What causes changes in allele frequency due to chance?

Answer 12

Genetic drift and sampling error.

Question 13

Define sampling error

Answer 13

Random differences between allele frequencies in a small sample vs. the larger population.

Question 14

What is the founder effect?

Answer 14

When a new population is established by a small number of individuals, leading to allele frequencies that differ from the source population.

Question 15

What is genetic drift?

Answer 15

Changes in allele frequencies over time due to random sampling, a mechanism of evolution.

Question 15

Define homozygous

Answer 15

A genotype with two identical alleles for a gene.

Question 16

Define heterozygous

Answer 16

A genotype with two different alleles for a gene

Question 17

What is heterozygosity?

Answer 17

The proportion of individuals in a population that are heterozygous for a gene

Question 18

What is random mating?

Answer 18

When every individual in a population has an equal chance of mating with any other.

Question 19

What are gametes?

Answer 19

Sex cells (sperm or egg) that fuse to form a zygote.

Question 20

How does sample size affect allele frequencies in zygotes?

Answer 20

Smaller numbers of zygotes lead to greater deviation from population allele frequencies; larger numbers converge to the population frequency.

Question 21

How is evolution defined in population genetics?

Answer 21

Change in allele frequencies across generations.

Question 22

Contrast natural selection and genetic drift.

Answer 22

Natural selection: differential reproduction of beneficial traits

Genetic drift: random changes in allele frequencies due to chance

Question 23

How does population size affect allele frequency changes?

Answer 23

Smaller populations experience faster changes due to drift; larger populations are more stable.

Question 24

What is effective population size (Ne)?

Answer 24

Size of an idealized population that loses heterozygosity at the same rate as the real population.

Question 25

How does Ne differ from census population size?

Answer 25

Census size counts all individuals; Ne accounts for breeding patterns, sex ratio, and mating structure, often smaller than the census size.

Question 26

How does inbreeding affect heterozygosity?

Answer 26

Reduces heterozygosity, increasing homozygosity, similar to genetic drift effects.

Question 27

How does an unbalanced sex ratio influence Ne?

Answer 27

Lowers effective population size because fewer individuals contribute genetically.

Question 28

What is the operational sex ratio?

Answer 28

The number of breeding males relative to breeding females, which can differ from the overall adult sex ratio.

Question 29

What is allele fixation?

Answer 29

When all individuals in a population carry only one allele for a gene; heterozygosity for that gene becomes zero.

Question 30

Why is genetic diversity important for conservation?

Answer 30

High diversity allows populations to adapt to environmental changes and survive intense selection pressures.

Question 31

What is a population bottleneck in conservation context?

Answer 31

Sudden reduction in population size due to disasters, disease, or human activity, which can drastically reduce genetic variation.

Question 32

Census population size

Answer 32

Census population size is simply the total number of individuals in a population.